


Accidental Timeshare

by dogmatix



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Genre: Gen, M/M, assume Jar-Jar did something clumsy that got Obi-Wan in trouble, not much setup on this, tangentially fanfic of fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-01-24 21:32:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1617767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogmatix/pseuds/dogmatix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darth Venge knew he'd regret Jar-Jar's presence, but even he didn't think the end result would be Venge possessing a younger(older?) version of himself in a timeline he'd already lived through.  And then there's Dooku.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wherein Venge curb stomps Darth Tyranus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flamethrower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamethrower/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Shadows - Part III](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1255921) by [flamethrower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamethrower/pseuds/flamethrower). 



> This was supposed to be a short, random plunnie. Er, yeah. There'll be at least one more chapter.
> 
> This fic isn't connected to Mobius, though both are inspired by flamethrower's epically awesome Re-Entry series (and have similar premises)

Anakin sometimes wondered how his best intentions always ended up crashing and burning so kriffing spectacularly.  This time it was totally not just his fault though – he and Padme wouldn’t be stuck chained to pillars in a giant arena if Padme hadn’t insisted on coming to help Master Obi-Wan.

Not that Obi-Wan had thanked them, of course not.  Nothing Anakin ever did or tried to do was good enough for his Master.  Anakin’s stomach tied itself in a tight knot as three beasts were released into the arena to the cheers of thousands of beings.  He’d been in worse situations, but never with Padme in danger beside him.

“Master?” he asked, trying to cover his alarm as the beasts slunk closer.

But there was only silence.

There was something very wrong with his Master’s presence in the Force, now that he was paying attention.  Almost against his will, Anakin turned to look.  Obi-Wan was bent forward, head tucked against his chest in a tight arch that twisted his bound arms almost grotesquely.

“Master..?”

Something dark and predatory brushed Anakin through his Force sense, an inferno so intense it burned with the pitiless cold of space.

_________________ 

 

He was going to fucking kill that _fucking Gungan_.  That was Venge’s first semi-coherent, bloodthirsty thought as he wrestled the panicking mind suddenly abutting his into a nice quiet cocoon, adapting his shields on the fly to contain the other presence.

Anakin was on his right, and bloodlust floated on the air like perfume. 

Venge’s eyes snapped open to harsh sunlight and a large, sandy arena.  Above him was a strong presence, Dark and somewhat familiar.

It was a sad testament to the fucked-up-ness that was Venge’s life, that he took a near-ten-year time shift (forward. Into a past that would hopefully never happen again) and his sudden relocation from Korriban to Geonosis in stride.

Ignoring his padawan’s alarmed presence, Venge felt all three of their chains with the Force and sheared through the links right above the cuffs. That should give Anakin and Senator Amidala enough of an advantage to work with.

Venge wrapped the Force around him and propelled himself forward, blurring by the giant insectoid beast that snapped at him in passing.

Blood roaring in his ears, Venge bounded and rebounded up the arena wall, twisting past the brown-cloaked Jedi as he came down in the midst of the audience, the natives rising on startled wings around him.

He was gone before the Jedi even realized that her lightsaber had been appropriated from her belt.

A final leap brought Venge face to face with Dooku, his borrowed green ‘saber hammering down on Dooku’s red one.

He’d only ever faced Tyranus as a Jedi.  But for once it was the Obi-Wan part of him that supplied the spark of hate, nurtured by years of a war that had paved the way for the ultimate defeat of the Jedi.  Venge willingly fed that hate to the Dark Side, feeling it surge around him as it sped his movements, sharpened his senses, and amplified his power.  The Dark Side might be a one-trick pony, but this was the exact trick it knew by heart.

Lightsabers whirling, the two Sith moved down the corridor into the bulk of the mountain the arena was carved from.  Shadows danced and flickered green and red became the only light, both combatants silent in the face of intent battle.  The surprise of finding a Sith where a Jedi had been moments before had put Dooku off balance, but Venge was still facing a master duelist alone, and so pressed his initial advantage ruthlessly, relentlessly, almost recklessly.

The tumult from the arena faded away, replaced only by the deadly hum of their lightsabers as Venge pressed Tyranus’ defenses, digging for a crack, a flaw, any kind of weakness he could-

There!

Tyranus’ lightsaber bounced against the wall, deactivated.

The humming green blade of Venge’s borrowed lightsaber hovered scant centimeters away from Tyranus’ throat, freezing the Sith in place against the wall behind him.

“Obi-Wan… Kenobi…”  Tyranus managed, breathing hard from the fight. “I never thought… you’d be one to fall. Ever the perfect… Jedi.”

“Hah!” Venge barked a harsh laugh. “Any Jedi can fall, Dooku. But you… you didn’t fall, you fucking jumped, didn’t you.” The lightsaber nuzzled closer, lighting Tyranus’ throat with bright green.

“You know the Jedi will not let you live, not now,” Tyranus said coolly.  “Come with me, and you may yet have a future.”

“Is that how you justified abandoning the Jedi? That you were saving your own fucking skin?” Obi-Wan’s anger spiked and spilled into Venge, finding fertile ground.  “Coward.”

“The Jedi Order is weak, misguided. They will not see the stagnation within or the danger without.  But you can still save yourself-“

Venge felt his face twist with rage, a low snarl escaping from between clenched teeth.  Tyranus fell silent.

“You,” Venge said with icy control, “are going to surrender to the Jedi. You will tell them _everything_ you know about Sidious – his methods, his plans, his identity, _everything._ ”

“And if I refuse?” Tyranus asked, contempt plain in expression and voice.

Venge nudged the lightsaber until it lay almost flat against the front of Tyranus’ throat, allowing Venge to move in closer, until he was only inches from the cowardly ex-Jedi.  “Then _I_ will take you apart, Lord Tyranus, until you _beg_ to be given to the Jedi.  And I will enjoy every. Fucking. Minute of it.” Venge confessed, voice low and hungry and full of promise.  The first hints of apprehension and uncertainty flickered though Tyranus’ Force presence, though his expression remained a stoic mask.

“Master.. Master, no.”

Venge could hear the hum of the lightsaber Anakin had managed to acquire somewhere, but there was no sense that his padawan intended to use it, either in his voice or through his Force presence.  “Padawan,” Venge acknowledged, not taking his eyes from Tyranus. 

_________________  


The feeling of wrongness Anakin had sensed in the arena hadn’t faded – if anything it had grown stronger.  He was trying to put up a good front, but he had no kriffing idea what had happened to Obi-Wan to cause, well… it couldn’t be what it looked like. It _couldn’t_.  “Master, this is not the way of the Jedi,” Anakin tried again, voice surer now. 

Obi-Wan turned his head just enough to spear Anakin with flat yellow eyes.  One eyebrow rose in mocking disbelief.  “Oh?”

It was like every mean, horrible thing Anakin had ever done was laid bare before his Master’s piercing gaze.  He suddenly felt very small and very vulnerable, and in that moment he realized that Obi-Wan knew exactly what Anakin had done on Tatooine.  Knew exactly how unworthy Anakin was to speak of the Jedi way.

The hum of an igniting lightsaber broke the moment.  “Obi-Wan, step away from Dooku,” Mace said, not quite in an attack stance.

“But don’t you want all your Sith in one place?” Obi-Wan asked smoothly, gaze fixed on Count Dooku again.

No, it couldn’t be.  A Sith? Not Obi-Wan. Yet his Master’s own words damned him as one of the very beings he’d sworn to eradicate.  But if Obi-Wan was a Sith, why had he helped Anakin and Padme in the arena? Why was he so insistent that Dooku confess to the Jedi?  None of this made _sense_.

“And if I took care of Dooku for you, would that really be so bad?”  The worst part was that Obi-Wan sounded so reasonable.

“I won’t ask again,” Master Windu said firmly, falling into a vaapad stance.  “Step away from Dooku.”

The dark, predatory air still hung in the air, heavy and barely restrained.  It was wrong, all wrong.  Anakin could feel panic starting to claw at him.  He needed time to think, to sort things out.

Time he didn’t have.  He made his decision.

_________________  


“Master Windu, wait.  Master Obi-Wan isn’t your enemy.”  His padawan interposing himself between Venge and several Jedi was at once unsurprising and startling.

And humbling.

Tyranus wasn’t his to kill.  This wasn’t his world or his time, though it had been once.  This wasn’t a game, and Anakin would suffer the consequences of his actions.  As would the Obi-Wan he’d suppressed so ruthlessly.

He might be free of Fire’s influence for now, since this Obi-Wan didn’t have the toxin in his system, but that didn’t mean he could ignore his own temper.  At least Fire had given him plenty of practice at taming his excess.

“Padawan Skywalker, stand aside,” Mace said stiffly, clearly not wanting to involve a padawan in a fight against a Sith.

This had escalated far enough.  “Here, Mace, have a sign of my good will.”  Stepping back from Tyranus, Venge gripped the front of the man’s tunic, bringing the Sith around and shoving him in the direction of the Jedi.

Venge waited a moment as the Jedi got Tyranus sorted, then put his hand on Anakin’s shoulder.  “Sabre off, please.”

“But, Master-“

Venge extinguished his own borrowed lightsaber.  “I am surrendering myself to the Jedi Order -“

A Jedi’s death resounded in the Force, rippling outward from the arena.

Oh. Oh he’d forgotten. “The droids!” Venge spun and ran back down the way he’d come, bursting out onto the small balcony that overlooked the sprawling arena where Jedi were fighting and dying.

Droids were pouring into the arena, blasters being mostly deflected by the Jedi scattered over the sandy floor.  But ‘mostly’ wasn’t always good enough.

All those years ago, Obi-Wan had mourned the harsh lesson the Jedi had learned on Geonosis, before war hardened the Order into soldiers, strategists, Generals.  On that day, Jedi had flung themselves into battle as warriors, without anything more detailed than the idea of saving two of their own and a senator, and lost all but twenty of the more than two hundred Jedi.

Here and now, another Jedi passed into the Force, and Venge reached for the Dark Side.  He no longer had the sheer power Obi-Wan had gained upon returning from his death, and though Fire made a devil’s bargain for the power it granted, he missed that, too, as he pushed his Force sense out through the entire arena, dropping quickly into a semi-meditative state to get a clearer view of the battle.

Pouring his rage into the Dark Side, Venge felt it respond, let it flow through him in a wave of caustic power that gripped and tore at the droids below.  He didn’t need to hear the squeal of metal or panicked artificial voices to know he was succeeding, ripping the droids apart from the inside out in a ripple of expanding Darkness that he pushed ever outward, until he reached the edges of the arena.

With the sudden reprieve, the Jedi lost no time hightailing it out of the arena as more droids started flooding in.

It would have to be enough.  Reserves exhausted, knowing he had overextended himself, Venge snapped back to consciousness and found himself leaning heavily on Anakin. 

He blinked at his padawan.  Felt something wet on his lip and reached up, only to draw back fingers smudged with crimson.  Overextended himself and then some.

Mace was saying something, but Venge couldn’t hear it over the tinny whine in his ears.  And then Venge heard nothing at all.


	2. Where Venge faces the Council

The available Council members were seated in a semi-circle, sometimes on slightly improvised seating to allow for everyone’s physiology.  Obi-Wan stood facing them, feeling a bit more hesitant than he was used to when facing the Council.  At least he usually knew if he was in trouble or not.

He could feel the slight thrum of the ship around him, carrying them all back to Coruscant.  Anakin stood against the wall a few feet behind him, a bright, stubborn presence in the Force.  It was unusual for Anakin to be so protective of Obi-Wan, but after waking up strapped to the infirmary bed with a pounding head and three Jedi standing guard over him, Obi-Wan was actually grateful for Anakin’s insistence on accompanying Obi-Wan even into the Council meeting.

“Master Kenobi, the Council is pleased to see that you’re looking better,” Adi Gallia said.

“Thank you, Master Gallia,” Obi-Wan inclined his head.

“We are sorry to interrupt your healing,” she continued, “but several disturbing things happened yesterday, and we were hoping you could give us a different perspective on them.  Could you please tell the Council everything you remember about the battle on Geonosis?”

Well, there it was.  Obi-Wan shifted uneasily.  “I’m afraid I won’t be much help.  I remember arriving on Geonosis, I remember being captured and held by Count Dooku, and I remember being brought out to the arena and being chained to a pillar.  Then my padawan and Senator Amidala were brought out and chained up, and.. I believe some beasts were released into the arena, but…”  a shiver traced through Obi-Wan.  “Darkness. There was a sense of great Darkness, pushing me down.  I think.. I think I fought against it, but.. that is the last thing I remember before waking in the infirmary.”

His testimony didn’t seem to go over well, and the atmosphere in the room grew heavier, sharper.

“You’re saying you don’t remember anything after being chained up?” Mace Windu asked, disbelief only barely disguised.

“I’m afraid so,” Obi-Wan said.  “Anakin has told me that there was a battle, and that we won,” before the Jedi Knights had shut Obi-Wan’s padawan up with glares and a firm ‘Padawan Skywalker!’  “But I have no memory of it.”

“You said some… rather disturbing things, during the battle,” Mace Windu said.

Yoda nodded. “A Sith, you claimed you were.”

Obi-Wan heard the words, but it took a moment to process them.  “But I’m not a Sith,” he said, half unsure if the Council was maybe playing a joke.

“You used the Dark Side,” Mace Windu elaborated. “We all felt it.”

“You’re joking,” Obi-Wan said, still more bewildered than anything else.

“I’m afraid not.”

“But….” Obi-Wan trailed off.

“All he did was help!” Anakin insisted heatedly.

“Skywalker, you will stay silent, or you will leave,” Mace Windu said, glowering.

“I wouldn’t call almost killing Dooku, who was unarmed and beaten, ‘helping,’” Even Piell added.

“Did I hurt anyone?” Obi-Wan asked, alarmed. It still seemed so unreal and yet if the entire available Council told him it was true…

“No,” Adi Gallia shook her head.  “What young Skywalker said is, in fact, true. You never acted against the Jedi.  That’s the only reason you’re walking around without a Force inhibitor, by the way.”

Obi-Wan stared, feeling cold.  What in all the hells had _happened_?

“Some of us still think that’s a bad idea,” Even Piell grumbled.  “If Kenobi has been compromised, we have no idea how long he’s been a double agent, or when it started.  After all, we have only his word that the Sith on Naboo is the one who killed Master Jinn.”

“What?!” Obi-Wan blurted out, shocked.

Even Piell regarded him coolly.  “We have reports of a Zabrak Sith at Naboo from multiple sources.  But we have only your word as to what happened after you and Master Jinn went in pursuit of him.  We have only your word about who killed your master.”

Rage and Darkness roared to life.  Venge had already yanked Even Piell from his seat and had him pinned on the ground by the time the other Jedi Masters even reached for their weapons.

One of Venge’s hands was wrapped around the diminutive Jedi Master’s throat just short of choking, while the other pressed Piell’s own lightsaber, unlit, against the bottom of the Jedi’s jaw.  One finger rested lightly on the lightsaber’s activation button.

“You can say whatever else you want about me, and you might even be right, but if you _ever_ again imply that I would hurt Qui-Gon Jinn I will rip out your throat and shove it up your ass, are we fucking clear?” Venge hissed, low and threatening.

“Master!”

Anakin’s  alarmed cry brought him back to himself.  Looking up, Venge saw the remaining Council members ranged around him, sabers lit.  Between them and Venge stood one stubborn padawan, lightsaber at the ready.

“Shit.”

“Something a little bit more helpful, please,” Anakin said urgently, not quite squeaking.

“So it’s true,” Adi Gallia said quietly, shock and horror written on her face.

“…I am releasing Master Piell,” Venge said, and matched action to words.   Piell scrambled away from Venge, getting out of range as quickly as possible.  Venge watched him go, making no move to stop him. “I have no wish to fight the Council, and I apologize for overreacting to Master Piell’s accusation.”

Waking up to Obi-Wan’s emotions in turmoil, followed by an accusation that he would kill his husband, would have been enough to earn Venge’s anger in any event. But what had tipped the scales was Venge’s lifebond, or near-lack thereof.  Even on Entrios, Qui-Gon’s presence had never been this far away;  only the barest trace of a connection remained.  Consequently, Venge was a very, very unhappy Sith, and Even Piell had accidentally said exactly the wrong thing to him.

Still, it had been an overreaction, and Venge resolved to keep a better eye on himself.  Qui-Gon would not be happy if he killed a Jedi, even in another reality.

And, he forced himself to admit, the questions Piell were asking were logical. Stupid, but logical.

“That’s not much of an apology,” Mace pointed out.

“Don’t push your luck,” Venge replied dryly.

Master Yoda hobbled past the other Masters, the only Council member who had not drawn his lightsaber.  The look he gave Venge was deep and searching, and Venge twitched under the scrutiny.

Yoda nodded, humming to himself.

Mace, being fluent in Yoda-speak, sighed and gestured to the other Masters. Slowly, lightsabers were put away, until even Anakin had to follow suit.

“So, Sith, you are.”

“Yes. Sith, I am,” Venge said, inclining his head.

“A name, you have?”

“What, like that coward Tyranus? Yes.” Ugh. He’d gotten used to it, but it still rankled occasionally that he was using a name bestowed by Sidious.  Especially now, with Sidious yet unmasked.  “Call me Venge, if you must.”

“Hmmmm.  Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are also.”

“That is… complicated.” Venge admitted, thereby winning the competition for understatement of the year.

“Perhaps we could all have a seat, and discuss the matter without resorting to, ah, aggressive negotions?” Adi Gallia suggested.

“I have no objection to that,” Venge said.  He debated what to do with Even Piell’s lightsaber – holding onto it would make the Jedi nervous, but giving it back to Piell would leave Venge without a ready weapon and thus make _him_ nervous  (he was a Sith in a room with over half the Jedi Council, after all).  “Padawan, if you would hold onto this for me,” Venge finally settled on, handing the weapon over to Anakin.

“I suppose the pertinent question is, how long have you been a Sith?” Mace started once they were all seated, though Anakin remained standing, taking up a position at Venge’s side and slightly behind.

“Sure, start with the hard questions,” Venge grumbled.  “Part of the answer is that Obi-Wan is not a Sith at all, nor will he be for several years yet, and then only if he fucks up rather badly.”

The Council stirred, confusion, curiosity, and disbelief evident in many faces.

“The truth is, unfortunately, even more absurd than Obi-Wan being a double agent for the Sith.  You can think of me as… a possible outcome.  I seem to have come unstuck in time and place – I am several decades older than your Obi-Wan.”  There, the bare bones of the truth without bogging down in temporal theories.

“Then you were only pretending to be Obi-Wan, just now?” Mace asked.

“No,” Venge frowned thoughtfully, “you could say I am possessing Obi-Wan.  He is still here,” Venge placed a hand on his sternum, “I have only suppressed him somewhat.”

“Like you did during the battle on Geonosis?” Shaak Ti asked shrewdly.

“Yes,” Venge said.  “Neither of us knew what was happening, nor did we have time to work it out.  We clashed and I won, pushing Obi-Wan down as far as I could to better concentrate on the situation.”

“You mean you aren’t… Master Obi-Wan…?” Anakin asked, unsure.

Venge turned slightly to look at Anakin.  “I used to be.  In some ways I still am.  And you will _always_ be my padawan.”

Anakin didn’t look completely happy, but some of his consternation faded from his Force presence as he thought it over.

“And how is Obi-Wan taking all of this, or is he not aware of it?” Mace asked.

“I didn’t suppress him fully, so yes, he is aware.  He’s not happy by any means, but he stopped trying to crack through my control about the time we sat down.”

There was an uneasy silence as the Council digested that.

______________  


“Bah,” Yoda muttered, hopping to the floor and walking towards Venge. “Afraid, we are.  Afraid, we should not be.  Show me, you will.”

Venge kneeled and offered his hand to the diminutive Master without complaint.

The Sith’s yellow eyes were unnerving, all the more for being set in Obi-Wan’s face.  Yoda took a moment to acknowledge his unease and accept it, before releasing it into the Force.  For a Sith, Venge was showing remarkable restraint and cooperation, and Yoda was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Yoda placed his hand into Obi-Wan’s.

Amplified by physical contact, he could easily sense Obi-Wan through the Force.  The young Jedi Master’s presence was a bright beacon, slightly marred by anxiety.  The Sith’s presence was dark, shot through with fear and anger, but contrasted so closely to Obi-Wan’s the similarities were striking.  There was no doubt in Yoda’s mind that Venge was Obi-Wan.  Or had been, once.

“Obi-Wan.  Present, are you?” Yoda asked, eyes closed. 

A pulse of acknowledgement came through the Force.

“Give permission, would you, for Venge to speak through you?”

This time the acknowledgement from Obi-Wan was grudging, but still strong.  A faint sense of both amusement and sympathy flickered through Venge.

“Give permission, Obi-Wan does,” Yoda announced to the Council, and hobbled back to his seat. “Continue, we will.”

________________  


“Why call yourself only a ‘potential outcome’?” Shaak Ti asked after a few moments of silence.  “And if you don’t believe the future is predetermined, aren’t you worried about changing the future?  You certainly saved dozens of Jedi lives yesterday.”

“No,” Venge shrugged. “I have Force bonds with several people. Those bonds still exist, therefore, those people must still exist. Since some of those people are not alive at this time, that suggests that I am only displaced.”  The bonds also hadn’t ‘reset’ the way they had with Yoda after Obi-Wan had awoken in the past.  Besides, he had a pretty good suspicion about what that contraption on Korriban was for, now.

“Master Ti raises another interesting point,” Mace cut in.  “You saved many Jedi, and at a personal cost. Why would any Sith ally with the Jedi?”

“I suppose there are two main reasons.  Being a Sith is… not exactly an experience I’d recommend.  The first reason then, is that I hope to someday be a Jedi again.”

“I was given to understand that the Dark Side granted power, and that Sith are unwilling to give it up?” Mace asked, curious.

“It does grant power.  But not the kind I want.  The Dark Side could grant me the power to extinguish a sun, and it would bring me no nearer to my desire.”

“Which is?”

“To live in peace, with those I… care about,” Venge admitted, shifting in agitation. It felt so much like admitting a weakness, and in a way it was.

“Attachment…” Yoda said disapprovingly.

“Hells yes.”  Scowling at Yoda’s raised eyebrow, Venge elaborated. “Attachment can be unhealthy, but I find it is also what makes life worth living. And face it, Master Yoda, the Jedi Oder itself is a damn big attachment.”

Yoda harrumphed, and Venge smirked.

“Why aren’t you a Jedi?” Adi Gallia asked.  “Quirks aside, you seem more in line with the Jedi Order than the Sith.”

“Unfortunately, it is not that easy,” Venge sighed. “I adhere to Jedi philosophies not because I believe in them, but because those I care about need me to, and because I know, intellectually, that I should.  …I am working on it.” 

“I see,” Shaak Ti said.  “Now, you said you had two reasons. What is the second?”

Venge’s hands curled slowly into fists and his head started to dip down before he caught himself and took a deep breath.  “My second reason.  It is much more Sithly, I am sad to say.” Venge kept his voice even, but his tone was hard and unforgiving.  “The one who turned me, who _taught_ me, is Darth Sidious.  He wants the destruction of the Jedi order.  He wants to rule the galaxy.  He wants me to be his _apprentice_.  I will do _anything_ to deny Sidious his victory, and to see him _dead_.”

“And you will take his place?” Mace asked into the silence.

“No!” Venge snarled, temper flaring.  “That is _exactly_ what he wants.  A true Sith Apprentice, who follows the ways of the Sith.  I would rather _eat my fucking lightsaber_ than give him that.”

The Council members were uneasy again.  Well, big fucking surprise.

“Much anger I sense in you.  And much fear,” Yoda commented, ears low.

“Yes, that would be part of why I am a _Sith_ ,” Venge reminded the Council, bringing his anger to heel.

Mace drew in a sharp breath. “You know who Sidious is.”

“I do,” Venge said, smiling.  It probably wasn’t a very reassuring smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin is Not Happy. Obi-Wan is kinda horrified.

 “You’re _lying_!” Anakin yelled, shoulders tense and fists balled up tight. The Jedi Council, seated around the room in stunned silence, had ceased to matter to Obi-Wan’s distraught padawan.

“Am I?” Venge asked, voice mild.  He’d known when he revealed Sidious’ identity that it would have an impact.  There hadn’t been the fetid cling of the Dark Veil surrounding the Council, so the disbelief was all natural, but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

“Palpatine is my _friend._   You’re trying to take my _one friend_ away from me!”

“Your ‘one friend’? Really?”

“You’ve always been _jealous_ of me! I’m _stronger_ than you! I’m ready to be a Jedi but you _hold me back_ and don’t think I don’t see it!”

“Palpatine is the Sith Master.”

“Liar!” Anakin shouted again, face scrunched up with fury and tears. “You’re just-  I hate you!”

“Let him go,” Venge said, expressionless, as Anakin barged out of the room and Adi Gallia made an aborted move to try and stop him. “He needs time.”

“Padawan Skywalker’s outburst aside, this is a serious charge,” Ki-Adi said.

“I am aware,” Venge said dryly, inclining his head.

“Yet believe it, you do,” Yoda said, frowning.

The seed of doubt had been planted.  Good.  Perhaps truth might grow from it.

_________________

Anakin was sulking in Obi-Wan’s quarters.  Venge sighed. This was one stage of his padawan’s development that he didn’t miss, and knowing that a large part of it was Sidious’ influence made him want to kill things.

Anakin’s head whipped around. Unshed tears, as much from fury as anguish, welled in Anakin’s accusing eyes.

“Come on, we’re going to spar,” Venge snarled as he marched into the room and grabbed Anakin by the wrist.

“What?” Anakin yelped.  It only took two stumbling steps before it clicked for Anakin that he’d get to swing a lightsaber at Venge, if Anakin’s sudden co-operation was anything to go by.

Anakin grumbled when Venge made him put his lightsaber in training mode, but complied.  Truthfully, Venge wasn’t doing it for Anakin, he just didn’t trust himself not to slip in the middle of a fight.

Half an hour later, Anakin’s tunics were scorched enough that he’d have to get a new set.  Anakin was also nursing an angry line of blisters on his right wrist.

“Your master keeps telling you your guard is weak on that side,” Venge said, sitting down next to Anakin and letting the boy glare at him to his heart’s content. “Listen to him.”

“You didn’t fight fair,” Anakin grumbled half-heartedly.

“I _did_ , actually,” Venge said dryly. “You would have known if I had not – you would have had many more bruises.” Anakin glared at him, and Venge showed his teeth in what might be mistaken for a smile.

“Not that I did you any favours,” Venge added. “You will need all the dirty tricks you know, in the war to come.”

Anakin crossed his arms on drawn-up knees, brows furrowing over a moody stare at the far wall. “I _know_ , already. No need to rub it in.”

“Rub what in?”

“That you think I’ll never make Knight.”

“That was neither what I said, nor what I meant,” Venge said, tamping down on his annoyance.  “You have the potential to be a great Jedi.”

“Obi-Wan manages not to see it,” Anakin sulked.

Venge considered mentioning the appalled presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi listening in on the conversation, but decided against it.  “Patience, while annoying, often pays off.”

“But I’m _ready_ to be a Knight. I’m ready _now_ ,’ Anakin said, gritting his teeth in frustration.

“No, you are not.” Venge said, voice going cool.

“Yes I am!” Anakin snapped, unfolding out of his sulk and clenching his fists.

“You _just_ got done slaughtering an entire village of Sand People,” Venge snarled, “you are _this_ close to jeopardizing your entire career through your involvement with Senator Amidala, _and_ dragging her down with you, and you think you are ‘ _ready’_ to be a Jedi Knight?”  Venge eyed the distraught version of his padawan disdainfully.

“I- no, I-“ Anakin tried and failed to come up with anything to counter that, fear and distress radiating from him.

“And to top it all off, your control over your temper is abysmal.” Venge sneered.

“It is not!” Anakin yelled, going rigid as his fear flashed over into anger.  The Force swelled out from Anakin in a wave, rattling the loose objects in the room.

Venge let the tainted Force swirl past him.  He regarded Anakin steadily as the young man shrank in on himself.

“You are shot through with Darkness,” Venge said, leaning forward and laying a hand on Anakin’s jaw.  “I can feel it twined through you.”

“But I, I’m the Chosen One,” Anakin said, almost pleadingly. Bewildered.

“You can still fuck up,” Venge said, matter-of-fact but not unkind. “In that, you are exactly the same as all other living beings.”

The simple acknowledgement broke the last of Anakin’s defenses.  The boy’s expression crumpled, and Venge held him as he cried, Anakin’s drawn-out sobs muffled by Venge’s tunic.

The tears subsided after a long while, and soon after, Anakin was fast asleep on his feet, head still tucked into the crook of Venge’s neck.  He didn’t even wake up when Venge carried him to bed and tucked him in.

Obligations seen to, Venge wandered the ship, which was blessedly empty, the machinery humming gently to itself.  It was a welcome relief after the hectic day.  Venge was perfectly content to encounter nobody on his way back to Obi-Wan’s quarters.  Paradoxically, he was also annoyed.  Yes, he was a ‘friendly Sith,’ but the Council still should have placed at least one guard on him.  Unless the Council was being sneakier than he was giving them credit for, they were letting him run around unescorted.  The war would be a much-needed kick in the pants regarding security measures and reasonable suspicion, if nothing else.  “Nothing to say?” Venge asked Obi-Wan’s empty quarters as the doors slid shut behind him.

_________________

‘ _Oh you’re talking to me now?’_ Obi-Wan deflected.  He’d honestly thought that his weird – _Dark_ – alter-ego would continue to ignore him; a state of affairs that Obi-Wan saw no problem with.  There wasn’t anything Obi-Wan could think of that would induce him to Fall to the Dark side.  Venge’s existence meant both that Obi-Wan _could_ Fall, and that whatever had caused it was worse than anything Obi-Wan could currently imagine.  In all, Obi-Wan would have been more than happy if Venge had never shown up, and had little desire for a heart-to-heart with his alter-ego.

“Not eager to chat with something you hate?” Venge asked with cutting amusement.

A wash of cold unease swept over Obi-Wan.  Could Venge read his mind? How-?

Venge snorted. “You forget, I am you. I know _exactly_ how much I hate myself.”

It was a factual statement, with a curl of bitter self-mockery around the edges.  Surprisingly, it settled Obi-Wan’s jitters.  Whatever had happened to the Darksider, and however much his existence bothered Obi-Wan, Venge was still a sentient being, deserving of respect and compassion. 

‘ _Venge-_ ‘

“I would ask that you set it aside for a moment, in the interest of your padawan.”

Obi-Wan felt conflicted about letting their own situation go unexamined, but Anakin needed to be discussed. Urgently, if the young man’s conversation with Venge was any indication.  ‘ _All right. I’m listening.’_

_________________

They talked late into the night-cycle, but Obi-Wan’s exhaustion was catching up to him.  Normally, he’d have been able to stay up several days with only small naps, if he had to, but his time on Geonosis had been anything but relaxing, to say nothing of the energy Venge had burned through when destroying the droids in the arena.

Still, Obi-Wan did his best to shake off the fatigue, and pushed his body to its limits.  The crux of the matter was that Venge has no way to determine how long he’d be around;  he might vanish at any time, gone as easily as he’d arrived.  His terse outline of how he’d come to be possessing Obi-Wan involved an investigation of a temple on Korriban and Jar-Jar being, well, Jar-Jar.  The invective leveled at the Gungan was impressive, to say the least.  Venge also made it clear he’d prefer if he returned to his own reality, or dimension, or whatever, sooner rather than later, but he had no control over it either way. 

Consequently, anything of importance the Sith had to say, Obi-Wan had to hear as soon as possible.  Much of the wisdom Venge imparted was couched in the form of cutting, sarcastic tirades, but Obi-Wan found himself nodding along at several points until, finally, he lost the battle and slid into a deep, exhausted sleep.

Obi-Wan woke with a large, empty silence in his head.  He sent out a mental query, nothing more coherent than the mental equivalent of a grunt and a nudge, but received no answer.

Someone cleared their throat.  Still more than half asleep, Obi-Wan made grainy eyes blink open, and squinted at Yoda, who was at eye-level.  Oh.  Obi-Wan was sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall.  That explained the stiff back. And the numb ass.  Obi-Wan vaguely remembered walking around, trying to keep himself awake as Venge talked. He must not have made it back to his bed.

“Gone, Venge is?”

Obi-Wan nodded, scrubbing at his face with fingers still clumsy with fatigue.  When this was over he was going to sleep for a _week_.

“Speak with the Council, you should,” Yoda said, handing over a cup of steaming hot liquid. “Much there is to discuss.”

Obi-Wan grunted and accepted the tea, resigned to a long morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go, because Obi needs to have A Conversation with Anakin.


End file.
